Table of contents for April 2025 in Plane & Pilot

It’s been half a decade since the ADS-B “mandate” to equip became effective. There’s no doubt it’s been a useful technology for pilots, though recent events have caused those who early on questioned privacy matters to speak up once again. We were assured that ADS-B tracking data would not be used “against” us, as in for enforcement actions or for user fees. We know the second of those promises has already been broken. Go read Jeremy King’s Words Aloft column from last month if you haven’t already—he dissects some of the pilot community’s reaction to new ADS-B-prompted landing fees. I suppose it was inevitable that airports would start levying fees for service, which is a bitter pill for those of us who remember that many of these airports were supported…

TWENTY-ONE YEARS ago, the FAA released a regulation often called sport pilot/light sport aircraft. Announced at EAA AirVenture 2004, this ruleset dramatically altered the way aircraft earned approval, resulting in a wave of new flying machines. Most of them were made overseas, at least initially. Eventually, American producers caught up, but many international designs, primarily from Europe, had established a market in the U.S. Now in 2025, with MOSAIC barely over the horizon, are we about to experience a second tsunami of new MOSAIC aircraft from other countries? Yes, very possibly. Here’s why. In the early 2000s, the internet was still a new thing and wages in Eastern European countries were dirt cheap. Companies I visited then could hire university-trained engineers with years of experience for $600 a month. With…

The relief pilot wasn’t there. Jack Knight didn’t know the terrain, didn’t know the route, but he knew it was dark and there was a blizzard. And he knew that the U.S. Congress was watching this relay of mail across the country and that the very future of the airmail system could depend on this flight. He climbed back into his de Havilland DH-8 and headed east. James Herbert “Jack” Knight was born in 1892, in Lincoln Center, Kansas. Tragedy struck his family early in his life, and his mother died only a year after he was born. Knight and his sister were sent to live with an aunt and uncle in Michigan. In what may have been a case of foresight, he was given the nickname “Sky,” as a…

Unlike legacy GA builders, such as Cessna and Piper, Game Aerospace is a smaller, boutique manufacturer located at Bentonville Municipal Airport-Thaden Field (KVBT) in Arkansas. Due to its unique process and procedure, which includes painting and baking the entire airplane fully assembled, rather than a part at a time, Game Aerospace does not offer a multitude of options for aircraft customization. Owners can select a paint scheme from one of the four factory options with up to 50 different color options, or a scheme of their own. But that’s where most of the personalization ends. Garmin Aviation’s G3X Touch EFISes are the only avionics available to the aircraft. However, you can decide whether or not you would like to have Garmin’s two-axis autopilot installed. Owners can also choose a single-place…

With thousands of hours spent aloft, it’s easy for crews to forget what it’s like to view a flight through the eyes of someone who doesn’t fly often. When it comes to our customers with intellectual or developmental disabilities, we might as well be standing on opposite sides of a crevasse, in the dark, trying to throw a lifeline without knowing how far away the other side is. In November, I got to participate in Wings for All, an event with The Arc, an organization dedicated to promoting and protecting the human rights of people with developmental and intellectual disabilities. Together, we provided participants and their families the chance to experience a lot of the sensations of a flight, but with two major differences: We never left the ground, and…

THE NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION Safety Board (NTSB) has recently released final reports on two very similar fatal accidents that happened only a week apart. Both involved single-engine piston aircraft landing at their home fields. The first was an Extra 300 at Galt Field Airport (10C) in Wonder Lake, Illinois, on November 25, 2022. The second was a Mooney M20 at Falmouth Airpark (5B6) in Massachusetts on December 2, 2022. The Extra was piloted by an experienced aviator with more than 6,000 hours. The accident pilot and his wife had bought the airport in 2013, so he was certainly familiar with the local area. The 2017 Extra EA300 LC was purchased about a year ago, and, according to friends, the pilot limited himself to basic aerobatic maneuvers. After the accident, the NTSB…

Cessna 182S LaBelle, Florida/Injuries: None NTSB Report: ERA23LA134 The accident happened during a checkout flight with an instructor to meet flying club currency rules. The pilot and CFI flew to a nearby airport to practice takeoffs and landings. Immediately after the fifth landing, during the rollout, the airplane turned abruptly to the right, exited the runway onto the grass area between the runway and taxiway, and impacted a drainage ditch. The airplane’s fuselage and right wing were substantially damaged. Postaccident examination of the airplane’s wheels and braking system revealed that the right main wheel would not rotate on its axle. When pressure was applied to the top of the pilot’s side right rudder pedal, the actuator rod for the master cylinder remained in the retracted position and would not automatically…

Price, Fully Equipped: $600,000+ Wingspan: 25 ft., 3 in. Wing Area: 121.5 sq. ft. Length: 23 ft. Height: 8 ft., 5 in. Max Gross Weight: 2,200 lbs. Empty Weight, Standard: 1,300 lbs. Useful Load, Standard: 900 lbs. Baggage Capacity: 33 lbs. Fuel Capacity, Total: 81 gal.. Seats: 1 or 2 depending on configuration Wing Loading: 18 lbs. sq./ft. Power Loading: 17.6 lbs./hp Engine: Lycoming AEIO-580 B1A (303 hp) Propeller: 4-bladed, constant speed MT Max Cruise Speed: 225 knots Range, Max Range Power: 1,000 nm Rate of Climb, Sea Level: 2,600 fpm Max Operating Altitude: 15,500 ft. Stall Speed: 60 knots Takeoff Distance: 980 ft. Takeoff Over 50-ft. Obs.: 1,378 ft. Landing Distance: 1,486 ft. Landing Over 50-ft. Obs.: 2,231 ft.…

WHEN YOU START flying, there’s so much that’s well out of your comfort zone, far outside your normal range of experiences, that it’s more than a bit overwhelming. The feel of the airplane, amount of wind and engine noise, and the G-force sensations all can lead to sensory overload. You’re keenly aware of the din but don’t quite know what to make of it. Over time, you become accustomed to the sights, sounds, and, yes, even smells of flying—when you do, patterns emerge. You learn the sound of the slip-stream passing by the not-quite-sealed window at the correct approach speed. You recognize the slight flutter of the engine as you pull back to idle abeam the numbers. It all starts to make sense. As you gain more experience, you realize…

I am willing to wager that every pilot has at one time or another asked themselves the big question: “Should I own my own airplane?” This is a complex decision often involving the collaboration of a spouse or significant other, flying partner, and, of course, a banker. And the inflation of the last few years has not made it any easier. However, to prove that all is not lost for the prospective airplane buyer, let’s look at the statistics. As of 2021, there were approximately 700,000 individuals holding U.S. pilot certificates and around 212,000 GA aircraft. Of course, these include business jets and other non-Part 135 machines. However, nearly 170,000 of these are piston-powered singles or twins. Even considering that many of these piston GA aircraft are owned by flight…

Like so many of my generation, I grew up reading about the exploits of the golden age of air racing. The 1930s produced a series of civilian race planes that outran the fastest military pursuit fighters. The Granville Brothers Gee Bee R-1, Travel Air Mystery Ship, Supermarine S6, and, of course, Howard Hughes’ legendary H-1 set speed and distance records, pushing the boundaries of speed to nearly 400 mph. However, the technical advances during World War II changed all that. In the late 1940s, surplus unlimited class World War II fighters, and for a while military jets, soon pushed 400 mph air race speeds out of reach. That is until 2007 when the husband-and-wife team of Jon and Patricia Sharp took on the 400 mph mark in their Nemesis NXT.…